Back in the Game (COMPLETE)

9.14.5

"He is the key to overthrowing Tyrannus," Maul answered her, his yellow eyes shifting.

Ahsoka didn't understand how. Did they need Anakin specifically to fight Tyrannus? "To defeating him?"

"To remove his right to the throne of the Sith," Maul explained, letting his arm relax at his side. "What do you know about the Sith Rule of Two?"

"Darth Bane made the Rule of Two after the Jedi-Sith War, over a thousand years ago," Ahsoka responded, remembering the history lessons Sideous had given the Sister. "Only one master and one apprentice may exist at a time."

Maul nodded, pleased that she was familiar with the story. "Yes, but do you know why it was made?" he asked, and Ahsoka gave no answer.

When she remained silent, he supplied her with the rest of the story. "It was made because the Sith Lords of old became too greedy for power, and it destroyed them. They competed for it and killed each other for it. Bane knew that lust for power would persist, so he created a system in which the power of the Master would pass to the apprentice. Down, the tradition carried, from generation to generation. The apprentice would become greedy, and they would strike down their master. As they did, the spirits of all the Sith before them would reside within, and the new Master would be declared."

Was that even possible? The Sith had never told the Sister that, and Ahsoka could sense that even her alter ego was shocked.

"I planned to kill Tyrannus the day he stole Barriss from me," he went on, disregarding Ahsoka's confusion. "I knew the Sith's new puppet, the Inquisitor, had killed Sideous, but I thought Tyrannus had exacted his revenge on her by killing her in turn. From what he claimed, though, it was Skywalker who killed the Inquisitor. Sideous's power, and all of the power that lived in him, has now passed through the girl into Skywalker."

Ahsoka's eyes widened because even that version of the story wasn't true. Anakin hadn't killed her, he had hidden her and protected her. As far as she knew, she was very much still alive. "The Master of the Sith is...."

Maul nodded, seeing that she understood. "Skywalker."

Me, Ahsoka realized fearfully. It's me.

That's not possible, the Sister insisted, talking as if the idea was absurd. If we were-If I was a Sith Master, we would have noticed something by now-

And notice something, they did. At that exact moment, a Dark flame woke up inside of Ahsoka, flowering and making itself known to both consciousnesses. This wasn't the Dark Side that they had come to know, but a deeper, dangerous power that came from outside of her. This wasn't the Sister, this was...this was the Sith.

Maul sensed it too. He seemed to recoil from her, just a step or two, but he recognized the power unveiling itself inside of her. "The Inquisitor...was a young teenage Togruta..." he remembered, and Ahsoka looked up at him. Recognition crossed his face, and he almost seemed to be in awe. "It was you. You killed Darth Sideous at the height of his power...and you're still alive."

He immediately changed tactics, gesturing wildly to her. "Tyrannus will not let you live if he finds that you have not fallen to Skywalker. He may not have known the true nature of the Rule of Two before, but I assure you he will find out, and he will stop at nothing to inherit his master's power."

"No," Ahsoka objected, standing her ground and keeping her distance. She pressed a hand to her chest, as if it could somehow smother the flame inside her. "I don't want this power, and I will not be what Sideous was. I was never a Sith, and I never will be."

"Don't you understand?!?" Maul asked incredulously, almost shouting at her. "Against the power of all of the Sith for the past one thousand years, Tyrannus doesn't stand a chance! You can destroy him, alone and without help, and you can end the abuse that has carried through the generations of Masters and apprentices! You could even bring it back to the Republic to defend them, or destroy it if that is what you wish! You have the greatest power this universe has ever seen!!!"